Unit 14 Festivals
----- Reading Kwanzaa


Teaching aims:
1.Learn and master some important sentence patterns
2.Train the students’ reading ability.
3.Let the students learn about the relation between festivals and history and culture.
Teaching important points:
1.Improve the students’ reading ability.
2.Help the students learn about foreign history and culture.
Teaching difficult points:
How to help the students understand the passage exactly.
Teaching methods:
1.Fast reading and careful reading to understand the passage correctly.
2.Pair or group work to make the students take an active part in the activities in class.
Teaching aids:
A tape recorder and a projector
Teaching procedures:
一、Pre—reading
T: Everyone, please brainstorm as many festivals as possible at home or abroad.
S: Christmas, new year, april fool’s day…
T: Good. now please look at the pictures and describe what kind of festival it is.
S: Holloween, Easter and Christmas.
T: OK. Today we’re going to learn a text about a kind of festival which some of you may haven’t heard of. It’s the festival called Kwanzaa.
What do you know about Kwanzaa? Now please look at the screen. First, let’s see some symbals of this festival. can you imagine what are these things stand for?
S: I think the fruits and corns stand for the harvest.
T: Very good. Do you know what the ears of the corn stand for?
S: We don’t know.
T: The ears of the corn stand for the sons in the family. The number of the sons in the family determines the quality of the ears of the corn.
二、Reading
T: OK. Now please listen to the tape , read the text by yourselves and then answer the following queations.
1.When was the festival born and celebrated?
2.Who celebrates the festival?
3.Why is the festival celebrated?
4.How is the festival celebrated?
5.What’s the seven principles of the festival?
S: ( Listen and read the text and finally answer the questions.)
三、Post--reading
T: Good now please read the text, find out the detailed information and then do the exercise of true or false in post—reading. If it is false, please correct it.
S: (Do the exercise and then answer the questions.)
四、Discussion
T: Now you’ve known Kwanzaa well. Please compare Kwanzaa with the Chinese Spring Festival and Christmas. In which way are they similar and in which way are they different?
S: Discuss with their partners and then several groups are asked to report their results in front of the class.
五、Homework:
T: today we’ve learnt a text about a new kind of festival. After class, please read the text for more times and try to retell the text. And please write down your discussion about differences and similarities between Kwanzaa and New Year as well as Christmas.
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